Microscopes don't exactly lie, but they have limitations. Scanning electron microscopes can't see electrical insulators, and their high energies can actually damage some types of samples. Researchers have now built the first low-energy focused ion beam (FIB) microscope using lithium. The team's new approach opens up the possibility of creating a whole category of FIBs using any one of up to 20 different...
A research team using tunable luminescent nanocrystals as tags to advance medical and security imaging have successfully applied them to high-speed scanning technology and detected multiple viruses within minutes. ...
DNA has been used by researchers to develop a tool that detects and reacts to chemical changes caused by cancer cells and that may one day be used to deliver drugs to tumor cells. The researchers' nanosensor measures pH variations at the nanoscale -- how acidic or alkaline it is. Many biomolecules, such as enzymes and proteins, are strongly regulated by small pH changes. These changes affect in turn...
By combining atomic force microscopy with infrared synchrotron light, researchers have improved the spatial resolution of infrared spectroscopy by orders of magnitude, while simultaneously covering its full spectroscopic range, enabling the investigation of variety of nanoscale, mesoscale, and surface phenomena that were previously difficult to study. ...
Physicists have discovered a new thermoelectric material offering high performance at temperatures ranging from room temperature up to 300 degrees Celsius, or about 573 degrees Fahrenheit. The work could be important for clean energy research and commercialization at temperatures of about 300 degrees Celsius. ...
While flexible gadgets such as 'electronic skin' and roll-up touch screens are moving ever closer to reality, their would-be power sources are either too wimpy or too stiff. But that's changing fast. Scientists have developed a new device that's far thinner than paper, can flex and bend, and store enough energy to provide critical back-up power for portable electronics. ...
Heat flow in novel nanomaterials could help in creating environmentally friendly and cost-effective nanometric-scale energy devices. Physicists are now designing novel materials with physical properties tailored to meet specific energy consumption needs. Before these so-called materials-by-design can be applied, it is essential to understand their characteristics, such as heat flow. Now physicists...
A tunable virus that works like a safe deposit box has been developed by scientists. It takes two keys to open it and release its therapy for cancer and other diseases. The adeno-associated virus (AAV) developed by bioengineers unlocks only in the presence of two selected proteases, enzymes that cut up other proteins for disposal. Because certain proteases are elevated at tumor sites, the viruses can...
Graphene is an excellent conductor of electricity and heat, but a number of practical challenges must be overcome before it can emerge as a replacement for silicon. Scientists are exploring novel ways of supporting and connecting graphene using experimental and computational methods. ...
Molecular “clamps” have been built out of DNA that offer a powerful new tool for identifying individuals with an increased risk of cancer, an international team of researchers report. The clamp is capable of detecting genetic mutations, associated with cancer and other genetic diseases, with better specificity and affinity than more traditional techniques. ...
Nanoengineers are asking what might be possible if semiconductor materials were flexible and stretchable without sacrificing electronic function? Today's flexible electronics are already enabling a new generation of wearable sensors and other mobile electronic devices. But these flexible electronics, in which very thin semiconductor materials are applied to a thin, flexible substrate in wavy patterns...
Scientists studying graphene’s properties are using a new mathematical framework to make extremely accurate characterizations of the two-dimensional material’s shape. Graphene, discovered in 2004, is a one-atom-thick sheet of graphite. ...
A new technique to examine how proteins interact with each other at the level of a single HIV viral particle has been developed by an interdisciplinary team of scientists. The technique allows scientists to study the life-threatening virus in detail and makes screening potential anti-HIV drugs quicker and more efficient. The technique can also be used to study other diseases. ...
Pioneering research has now developed a method to accurately measure the surface temperature of nanoscale objects when they have a different temperature than their environment. ...
How hard can it be to make a wheel rotate in a machine? Very hard actually, when the wheel sits in one of those nano-small molecular machines that are predicted to be running our future machines. But before the molecular machines become part of our daily lives, researchers must be able to control them. Scientists have now solved part of this problem. ...
Researchers have recorded the first observations of a strong nonlinear optical resonance along the edges of single layers of molybdenum disulfide that could be key to the use of this and similar 2-D semiconductors in future nanoelectronic devices. ...
Scientists seeking ways to synchronize the magnetic spins in nanoscale devices to build tiny yet more powerful signal-generating or receiving antennas and other electronics have published a study showing that stacked nanoscale magnetic vortices separated by an extremely thin layer of copper can be driven to operate in unison. These devices could potentially produce a powerful signal that could be put...
A newly developed pressure sensor could help car manufacturers design safer automobiles and even help Little League players hold their bats with a better grip, scientists report. Their high-resolution sensor can be painted onto surfaces or built into gloves. ...
Tiny, biodegradable 'nanoparticles' able to carry DNA to brain cancer cells in mice have been developed by engineers and neurosurgeons working together. The team says the results of their proof of principle experiment suggest that such particles loaded with 'death genes' might one day be given to brain cancer patients during neurosurgery to selectively kill off any remaining tumor cells without damaging...
In a first-of-its-kind study of how a material some think could transform the electronics industry moves in water, researchers found that graphene oxide nanoparticles are very mobile in lakes or streams and therefore may well cause negative environmental impacts if released. ...